Harvesting started at the beginning of the month and is now in full swing. Apart from Mare's Tail, which keeps popping up, weed germination has been low so not much work for the hoe and plot visits shorter than usual.

In the greenhouse the sweet corn (Early Extra Sweet) is in full production with two good sized cobs taken home on each visit. Seed sowing was spread over several weeks but now there is not much difference between the first and last sowings.

There is actually a book called "What do I do with all these Courgettes?" and this is very much the case this year. Section A has only four plants (Defender) but typically each plant produces two fruits for taking home twice a week. The problem is that they grow so quickly that a small fruit has become very large by the next visit. The three rows of "Catch Crop" early potatoes have been harvested and replaced by leeks (Musselburgh) from their seedbed. The wet weather in the middle of the month gave them a good start.

Section B's brassicas are thriving. I grow "Minicole" summer cabbages because they are supposed to be small. This year they can only be described as large and each plant lasts us well over a week. Minicole has the big advantage of standing for months without splitting so there shouldn't be any waste. The calabrese (Chevalier) is doing its usual thing of having a gap between cutting the main head and producing the smaller spears. I used to think that this was caused by dry weather but that has not been the case this year. Like the cabbages, the cauliflower (Candid Charm) has had very large heads. It quickly deteriorates after reaching maturity so we've been giving it to friends rather than letting it spoil.

The Edzel Blue potatoes in section C were showing signs of blight by the middle of the month so the shaws were cut off and the tubers harvested after a fortnight. Similarly, the Pentland Javelin then started showing signs and again the shaws were cut off. The tubers will be harvested early in August.

Thrips on the peas in section D (Hurst Green Shaft) are still causing a problem and some plants have now stopped producing. The remaining healthy plants are producing enough peas for us. The plastic mesh covers over the carrots have done their job with no signs of Carrot Root Fly.

Vegetables harvested in July were sweet corn, courgettes, baby leeks left over from transplanting, cabbage, calabrese, cauliflower, potatoes, white and red onions, peas and carrots. August should see more of the same and we'll be virtually vegetarian.

B. A. Plotter.